SOS scare tactics

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Dear Editor,

I am writing in response to the Saturday's (editorial) on the SOS Ballot Question.

Opponents of this spending limit are running a fierce campaign attempting to scare voters and discredit the initiative that limits the growth of state spending. For the record, there are absolutely NO SPENDING CUTS dictated in the SOS measure and it is extremely deceptive for the opposition to say so.

I can understand why our opponents and the Legislative Fiscal Office are working so hard to skew study results. They are either employees of the state or benefit from more government spending.

For them, this is about protecting their own interests rather than the interests of taxpayers. The recent analysis they produced comparing today's budget to a hypothetical spending limit enacted 10 years ago is irresponsible and misleading.

Had a spending growth limit been in place in 1996, those in government would have had to make a completely different set of decisions about managing government each year.

They would not have been allowed to spend as much as they did, on a year-by-year basis. That would have meant less government, more efficiency and lower taxes for all of us.

When passed, the SOS will limit the growth of government spending to the rate of inflation plus population growth. If the state ever wants additional growth in spending, then the Legislature can take it to the people for a vote. Let the people decide.

State budget growth, exceeding the rate of inflation, would be determined by taxpayers rather than bureaucrats who have a financial vested interest in keeping taxes high. SOS allows for healthy growth in the state budget not out of control state spending which has led to higher and higher taxes.

Due to our state's lack of fiscal discipline, Nebraska has gone from being the 13th highest-taxed state in the nation 10 years ago to the 6th, according to the Tax Foundation. We are headed in the wrong direction and I certainly don't want us to be the highest taxed state in the country.

We owe it to our children to be the fiscal guardians of our state's future. It is up to us, the taxpayers, to make its state government learn to live within our means just like every Nebraskan family does.

If we don't stop these runaway state budgets, then our children will be either forced to move out of state to seek economic opportunities or they will be taxed at an unsustainable rate. Neither choice is a good option.

Please join me in voting for the Initiative for Limiting the Growth of State Spending. For more information regarding myth vs. fact, please visit our Web site at http://www.sosnebraska.com. Spending limits equal tax relief!